Is Brexit the Start of the Next European Revolution?

by John Andrews / June 28th, 2016

Like almost half British voters I voted “remain” in last week’s EU referendum, so I’m far from delighted with the outcome. But as the capitalists say, every disaster brings with it opportunity, so we must use this chance to call for some desperately-needed changes.

The main issues that were raised during the campaign were about immigration and sovereignty. To properly address the immigration question it’s essential to understand the main causes for it. There are two different but related reasons: Permanent War and Continual Growth.

The overwhelming majority of refugees and asylum seekers flooding Europe today are the direct result of Permanent War, driven from their homes by US foreign policy actively supported by Britain. Therefore it’s blindingly obvious that if we want to put an end to refugees and asylum seekers we must no longer support the mostly illegal wars that destroy their homes and countries.

The other main component of immigration problems is Continual Growth – the insanely irrational foundation stone of capitalism. It was the ongoing expansion of the EU project, in the name of Continual Growth, that enabled millions of people from former Eastern European countries to seek better-paid jobs in the west. The fact they needed to do this was a direct result of the west’s gradual crushing of the USSR, culminating in 1989.

In other words, immigration problems are partly caused by our own government’s foreign and economic policies. So to properly end immigration worries, our foreign and economic policies need to radically change: we must stop supporting illegal wars and capitalism.

The economic argument is poorly understood – so effective is the brainwashing. Four decades of relentless utterly ruthless capitalism has, together with Permanent War, devastated much of the world. The hardships this inevitably causes is then blamed on the desperate victims instead of the real culprits – the 1%, who control and shape the world according to their greed.

The referendum showed how abysmally bad public information is. The fact the tabloid press can get away with printing the scurrilous rubbish they print – and that people believe them – is seriously worrying for any real democrat. This is mainly the fault of inadequate education. People believe the tabloids because our education system fails to teach them how to think clearly, and humanely. The victory of the Brexiteers was largely due to the most widely-read tabloid papers, whose long-standing support for the “leave” campaign was simply reprehensible. If we are ever to have real sovereignty, with we the people in real control, the need for better public education and good public information is urgently paramount.

It could be that the Brexit vote might trigger the social revolution that Europe, and most of the world, desperately need. The 1% will inevitably try to steer it in a direction of their choosing. We the 99% need to ensure not only that they fail, but that we’re united in a common purpose to permanently end mass ignorance, plutocracy and capitalism – and to replace them once and for all with good information, decentralised direct democracy and socialism.